Schumer told Democrats privately during a spirited closed-door lunch and then made public remarks ahead of voting Friday, which will be hours before the midnight deadline to keep government running. The New York senator said as bad as the GOP bill is, a shutdown would be worse, giving President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk “carte blanche” as they tear through the government.
The move by Schumer brings a potential resolution to what has been a dayslong standoff. Senate Democrats have mounted a last-ditch protest over the package, which already passed the House but without slapping any limits they were demanding on Trump and billionaire Musk's efforts to gut federal operations.
Trump himself offered to wade in Thursday to negotiate: “If they need me, I’m there 100%.”
But the president also began casting blame on Democrats for any potential disruptions, saying during an Oval Office meeting, “If it shuts down, it’s not the Republicans’ fault.”
Democrats are pushing a stopgap 30-day funding bill as an alternative. But Schumer said Republicans rejected that offer. And while Democrats were split over strategy, they worried about the further chaos they say Trump and Musk could cause if government was shutdown.
Schumer told Democrats at a spirited closed-door lunch that he would be voting to proceed to the bill. His comments first reported by The New York Times, were confirmed by two people familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.
